Students are invited to join us for NCRA’s first-ever Students Steno Nights, three Zoom sessions open to students and anyone else who is interested in participating to observe NCRA’s 2021 Court Reporting & Captioning Week. Highlights include guest speakers (veteran and new reporters), court reporting bloopers, Q & A sessions, and even karaoke. Sign up for any or all nights by emailing StudentSteno@gmail.com.

• Feb. 8 @ 8 to 9 p.m. Eastern: Debbie Kriegshauser, FAPR, RMR, CRR, CLVS, CRC, an official court reporter from Dallas, Texas, and chair of the Student/Teacher Committee will moderate a special session where participants can ask questions from a panel of seasoned NCRA members. Guests include Melanie Humphrey-Sonntag, FAPR, RDR, CRR, CRC, an official court reporter from Greeley, Colo.; Joyce Casey, FAPR, RDR, CRR, CRC, a captioner from Spartanburg, S.C.; and Nicole Bulldis, RPR, an official court reporter from Phoenix, Ariz.

• Feb. 10 @ 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. Eastern: Student/Teacher Committee member Amie First, RDR, CRR, CRC, CPE, an official court reporter and CART captioner from Orlando, Fla., will lead a session that will focus on bloopers and successes. Guests for the session include Veronica Guerrero, a freelance court reporter from Woodland, Calif.; and Jennifer Marks, an official court reporter from Citrus Heights, Calif.

• Feb. 12 @ 8 to 9 p.m. Eastern: The week will wrap up with a special Court Reporter “LOVE” Karaoke Night hosted by Margary Rogers, RPR, CRI, an official court reporter from Washington, D.C., and a member of the Student/Teacher Committee. Participants can expect a fun-filled time as they write and practice to all love songs.

To sign up for one or all of these special Zoom gatherings, email StudentSteno@gmail.com and indicate which night or nights you would like to participate in.

What interested you in the program and what brought you to the College of Court Reporting (CCR)?

What got me interested in the program and CCR more specifically would be, CCR is the best! CCR also offered different program options. This was an easy decision for me. The summer before I started CCR, I participated in ProjectSteno's free program. I was awarded a scholarship from them. I was given a list of schools that I could choose from that my scholarship would apply to. Believe it or not but one of those programs offered me free tuition because I had the scholarship from ProjectSteno. It was very enticing. I do not remember the name of that program, but I knew I was always going to choose CCR. I felt CCR was going to give me the best chance of being the best reporter I could be. I will never regret this decision.

What has been the most challenging part of getting through school, and what are you doing to overcome it?

If you had asked me what the most challenging part of court reporting school was before the world shut down, I would say for me, hands, down, confidence. Half of the time I feel like I have imposter syndrome. I have been a stay-at-home mom for almost a decade. You start to lose your identity and forget that you can accomplish things. I have to train my brain every time I sit down to practice that I can do it, and I am worthy of this profession. I am surrounded by people who believe in me and that is very important. Since March 2020, it's schooling in the pandemic. I started school when I did because my youngest was in full-day kindergarten. I could dedicate all my time to this. Now almost a year later, everyone is home. My partner has not returned to the office. I support my two children in E-learning during the bulk of my days. I have dedicated every night to practice, but that was hard for me. We have to work together more than ever to all accomplish our goals. I think at the end of this pandemic, graduation will be sweeter.

What has been the best piece of advice you have ever been given?

Over my time in CCR I have received a lot of great advice from instructors, faculty, friends, and family. It is hard to choose but Melissa Lee told me once that confidence is 90% of the battle. That really stuck with me, because that is my main struggle. In Melissa's class, we had a final that was basically all of our grade. I had done it ahead of time, and I felt great. We had a class that was for asking final questions before turning in. I had very few but important enough to be asked. My mic was not working. I panicked. Fortunately, Melissa called me and answered my questions. I felt really lucky to have someone care that much about my success, I fix what needed to be fixed and went to turn it in. Then I choked. I deleted something arbitrarily! I manic emailed this woman while puking and crying simultaneously. Turns out I did something very detrimental to my final because I lacked confidence in what I was doing. I have to remind myself daily that I know what I am doing, I am good at what I am doing and this is all worth it.

What do you like to spend your free time doing?

In my free time, wait.. I have no free time! Not yet. I'm at peace with that. There was a time that I loved to go on bike rides by myself to start my day. That time will come again I'm sure. With the pandemic and court reporting school, free time is a luxury that does not exist for me. It is worth it!

Have any plans for when you finish school? What is your dream job?

When I finish school I plan to be a freelance reporter. That has always been the plan for me. I want to be able to balance work life and family life., My kids won't always be little, and then the options are endless. The guest speakers that we have had have planted seeds in my brain. This profession is amazing because you can be something for a certain amount of time and you can easily switch it up without having to go back to school. I love that. I look forward to my future in a way that I never really did. I see myself doing something important and meaningful. Not that raising a family isn't those things, but it is so fleeting, and then what. I now know what, and that excites me.

Nominations are being solicited for Stenograph’s Milton H. Wright Memorial Scholarship. Students from NCRA-approved reporter education programs are encouraged to apply for the merit-based two-year award, which is worth up to $5,000 per year and will include use of a student writer and software. Full details here.

Eligibility

To be eligible to apply for the Milton H. Wright Memorial Scholarship, students must meet the criteria below:

• Attend an NCRA-approved court reporting program
• Have completed an NCRA A to Z ® Intro to Steno Machine Shorthand program
• Have received an NCRA A to Z ® Certificate of Completion
• Have attained an exemplary academic record (3.5 GPA or above)
• Have passed one skills test writing 80-120 words per minute at the time of submission